The Story of Mousercise
Where is my mind?
Ep. 220 is live!
Well last week was interesting, no?! Glad everything got sorted a-okay with Ben's internet kerfuffle! As an advocate of the old saying "shit happens," I can assure you that shit did indeed happen, but that's all behind us now. Moving forward, it's Monday May 13th, week two of P-n-P month, and it's time we put the "pick" in Picks 'n 'Preciation. This week's episode is a Patron Pick by way of our good buddy "Quip." Our man of the hour decided to get a bit cheeky and challenging, and threw out an odd one just to see what sort of fun we could have with it. Quip's pick is Mousercise, and by god...do we have some fun with it this week. What's most interesting to me is the genesis for Mousercise; not the show, but the album. Mousercise was first an album, released in 1982. What led to its creation was the success of 1979's Mickey Mouse Disco. This record holds a great deal of significance in that it was the first album produced by Disney to achieve Platinum Status. Prior to this, Disney Records was a division dedicated to producing listen along story books; those fondly remembered story books that usually had a small record or, in time, cassette included with them.
With this huge success, Disney wanted another hit record. Enter Mousercise. The Album boasted tracks sure to get kids excited, but also a booklet with corresponding dance moves for each song. The album quickly became a hit with Music and PE teachers everywhere, as a means to get kids excited for music and exercise. Shortly after its release, Disney started making plans for launching a premium cable channel and were in need of programming. Mousercise seemed an easy pick as it already had its own music and an easy built in premise: make exercising appealing to kids, and make it a family affair. At the time of its launch on April 18, 1983, The Disney Channel aired 11 hours a day from 7am-11pm EST. Its very first program was Good Morning Mickey, and the roster was filled out by other fondly remembered shows such as Welcome to Pooh Corner, You and Me Kid, Mousterpiece Theater, and of course...Mousercise.
Mousercise of course had widespread success, and ran on Disney in various forms and reruns until 1996. If you are a child of the late 70's and Early 80s, hell even part of the 90's, chances are you've had a brush with Mousercise. The show itself, sadly, is pretty much lost media, as not many old episodes survive. Ergo, it certainly isn't on Disney+ . Some rips and uploads from VHS and Laser Disc have made their way to YouTube, but finding old episodes is a little hard to come by these days. The music and workouts, though, do live on thanks to a highly unlikely, if not polarizing, world wide issue...that gott-danged Corona Virus! In light of the lock downs of four years ago (CAN YOU BELIEVE IT'S BEEN THAT LONG!?), students had to interact with their teachers and classmates remotely. This did pose the problem of how to ensure some sort of physical activity occured in lieu of PE class? Well, those Gen-X and early Millennial babies are all grown up, and many are your kids' teachers now. So, while many of us were clearing out our basements and attics, rediscovering our old GI Joes, Jem, and MOTU figures (causing one of the most UNLIKELY toy booms since the 80s)... others were busting out their Mousercise album, queuing up their camera, and making videos for their students to get up and at 'em to maintain some physical fitness in a fun way during a real shitty time. For me, though, Mousercise holds a special place in my heart as its this strange time stamp. Yes, I'm quite sure we are all familiar with just how deep Derek's memory runs and my parents being divorced, yada yada yada. Be that as it may, visiting my dad was always a treat! Sure, I got to see my dad, but we also got to have fun together, and I got to see what new swell tape he had made for me! All sorts of Saturday morning cartoons stockpiled for me, naturally, but also episodes of Mousercise! All thanks to underhanded dealings of the 1980's, a golden age of stolen cable, Joe Hoover slipping the cable guy some cash. He may not have been perfect, had his failings, and did have some rough edges. But hey...he was my old man. And damn if he wasn't going to make sure his kid got to see Mickey when he was over for a visit.
Folks that will wrap it up for us here at Yesterdaze this week, but please come on back next Monday when we get into Johnny-Boy's pick of The Blues Brothers! Oh, we are on a mission from God, kids! It will be a longer episode, but that's on brand for this property. Thanks! And Enjoy...
-Derek
